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How can I stop myself from closing trades early?

  • #41
  • Jun 20, 2019 7:37am Jun 20, 2019 7:37am
The problem discussed above is quite "popular" among the traders. To my mind, it is caused by something in the sphere of psychology. For example, the reason could be a huge loss incurred recently, or disbelief in trading strategy.
Thus, there could be different approaches to deal with that. First of all, it is necessary to check the strategy to ensure it works the way it should. If the trader knows that his strategy itself is profitable, he would be able to hold positions long enough without doubt, understanding that exit point specified by strategy rules is the best exit point possible.
Depending on particluar strategy traders could use even more extraordinary approaches. For example, mid-term/swing traders could just place alerts and then avoid watching the charts.
  • #42
  • Jun 23, 2019 8:16am Jun 23, 2019 8:16am
I have the same problem. I think we should not watch market all the time. Just set up TP and SL and then go away.
  • #43
  • Jun 24, 2019 6:37am Jun 24, 2019 6:37am
Quoting zilo
I have the same problem. I think we should not watch market all the time. Just set up TP and SL and then go away.
Exactly right. Determine the exit points (both SL and TP) before you put on the position. Stick with them. Aim for a 1:3 ratio between SL and TP i.e. if you risk 10 pips on a SL then you should set your TP 30 pips away.

One of the best things you can do imho is to formulate a trading plan. Before each trade fill out the following:

Instrument EURUSD
Entry point 1.1250
Stop Loss 1.1200 (Jan low)
Take Profit 1.1300 (Channel resistance)
Amount risked 50 pips, 0.5%, $200
Risk ratio 1:3
Motivation Momentum picking up with 10, 25, 50dma crossing over

Keep a record and review the winners and losers and look for patterns. Having this plan forces you to be honest about what your motivations were at the time of putting on the trade. It also forces trading discipline on you as it requires you to consider risk ratios, position size and stop losses before adding risk.
  • #44
  • Jan 1, 2020 3:38am Jan 1, 2020 3:38am
Thank you for this trend. It's been really helpful I'm going through same problems. Someone mentioned that the number of wins may be higher than losses yet that very loss may surpass entire TP which renders number of wins useless. I make ten straight wins with very small profit but my 1 loss takes everything. I keep shifting my stop losses. I believe we all went through this psyche problem n I have some answers from your thread hopefully I'll have better results in future
  • #45
  • Jan 3, 2020 2:55am Jan 3, 2020 2:55am
I suffered from this problem and realized if I let my pre-set SL & TP run its course, I would be way ahead by now. Its discipline you must instill in you. Maybe log out of your account after placing trades and get email notifications if either SL/TP is hit. In trading, the biggest enemy is not the market... but we ourselves. Trading in the Zone really helped me put this into perspective
There can be no peaks without troughs
  • #46
  • Edited 7:16pm Jan 3, 2020 6:59pm | Edited 7:16pm
Quoting PeligroRaton
I have this problem with my TP. Stop losses, I can live with them just fine now. I used to have this problem which I think most people have had, where you set a stop loss and if the price gets close to it you move it above/below the next support/resistance/trendline hoping the trade will work out. But of course mostly it doesn't so you move it again.... or take a bigger loss, or find you can't sleep at night.... Somehow I have taught myself not do that. And reading around that seems to be one of the hardest problems to fix. The problem I have is...

Try a trailing stop loss,

"JUST FOLLOW THE PRICE ACTION"

This is what I use in most of my trades.

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  • #47
  • Jan 4, 2020 7:13am Jan 4, 2020 7:13am
It seems to me that this is pure psychology and the only thing you can do in this case is learn to wait. And it's not easy, especially in this kind of gambling business, when you literally every minute worry and immediately see new prospects. But it passes with experience, you become more calm and start thinking two or three steps forward. Give yourself time and it'll be part of your trading system. Although it is not easy, but believe me, you are not the only one, each of us has been in this situation or is coping with it now. Try to risk a small amount to see what happens if you don't close the position. Do not risk large amounts at once, but with small amounts you can see for yourself that waiting can bring much more. It's a fact.
  • #48
  • Nov 18, 2020 3:46pm Nov 18, 2020 3:46pm
This is fight or flight which is biological, emotional and psychological. We are not biologically built to be traders and this is exactly what brokers are investing in.
It takes less than half a second to notice a threat, yet it takes several seconds to recognize something rewarding. This difference in speed produces more stress hormones and less pleasure hormones, creating emotional and psychological irrationals. It has the effect of magnifying the negative moves within a positive trade and ultimately causes the rapid decision to close out the trade. The exaggerated threat to the positive trade creates the flight. So how to stay and fight ?
There are some common thing like hiding trade data details etc, but ultimately its about knowing your limitations and how to capitalize on them.
  • #49
  • Nov 19, 2020 9:14am Nov 19, 2020 9:14am
dont use SL,that way you can keep trades longer and dont take early TP
  • #50
  • Nov 22, 2020 6:12pm Nov 22, 2020 6:12pm
OP said: you set a stop loss and if the price gets close to it you move it above/below the next support/resistance/trendline hoping the trade will work out.
----
Assuming your trading intraday, IMO, You gotta train yourself to take profit early at those levels you're talking about. You can move the stop out of greed, but you can't take profit when you have it.
It's a matter of conditioning. Practice being profitable and don't be too unrealistic. If your TP seems too unrealistic (ie. TP is much greater than ADR) then your strategy needs work.
  • #51
  • Nov 26, 2020 3:22pm Nov 26, 2020 3:22pm
Quoting PeligroRaton
I have this problem with my TP. Stop losses, I can live with them just fine now. I used to have this problem which I think most people have had, where you set a stop loss and if the price gets close to it you move it above/below the next support/resistance/trendline hoping the trade will work out. But of course mostly it doesn't so you move it again.... or take a bigger loss, or find you can't sleep at night.... Somehow I have taught myself not do that. And reading around that seems to be one of the hardest problems to fix. The problem I have is...

I'm interested in your strategy. Can we talk please? I'm new to Forex.
  • #52
  • Nov 27, 2020 12:28am Nov 27, 2020 12:28am
In other words some guy has a strategy that gains 2% per week but he is very upset about that because he want at least 3%. And yes he is using static tp and sl with fixed RR for trades. And yes he is trading higher tfs manually.

Oookay
Observer effect
  • #53
  • Dec 23, 2020 12:29am Dec 23, 2020 12:29am
quote
''But I just can't help myself closing winning trades early if they seem to run out momentum, or hit some resistance level and bounce back a bit several times''.
unquote

well, you need to rework on your trade plan
define clear rules on entry and exit. if x happens i enter, if y happens i exit
right now you seem to be trading as per emotions which is clearly a lack of defined rules
if you get exited or nervous anytime before during or after a trade, it is not a healthy sign
good trading is emotionless
work on your trade plan, revisit and rework the same

wish you luck
“Don't ever make the mistake of believing that market success has to
  • #54
  • Jun 20, 2025 9:17am Jun 20, 2025 9:17am
This is an older thread from over five years ago, but the psychological challenges remain the same—regardless of the year.

I have a profitable strategy that has been both backtested and forward-tested over more than 1,000 trading days on EUR/USD. Despite having strong confidence in this strategy, I find it incredibly difficult not to close trades prematurely when they're in profit. Losses aren’t an issue for me—I fully accept them as part of the game.

However, when a trade reaches 1R profit (even though my take profit is always set at 2R), I close it about 80% of the time just to lock in a win. By doing this, I limit my average reward, which ends up distorting the entire performance of the strategy.

I’ve tried stepping away from the screens after placing a trade—setting my stop loss and take profit and walking away. But after about an hour, I inevitably check in. If the trade is in a loss, I feel nothing. But when it’s moving toward my take profit, I start feeling anxious and often close it early—even if price action is clearly going in my favor.

This behavior goes completely against the core of my strategy, which, according to the data, is most profitable when I allow trades to reach the 2R target.

I really want to change how I operate and become more disciplined. Does anyone have any suggestions or techniques that could help me achieve this?

Thanks in advance!
  • #55
  • Jun 20, 2025 11:46pm Jun 20, 2025 11:46pm
Quoting warsawtrader
This is an older thread from over five years ago, but the psychological challenges remain the same—regardless of the year. I have a profitable strategy that has been both backtested and forward-tested over more than 1,000 trading days on EUR/USD. Despite having strong confidence in this strategy, I find it incredibly difficult not to close trades prematurely when they're in profit. Losses aren’t an issue for me—I fully accept them as part of the game. However, when a trade reaches 1R profit (even though my take profit is always set at 2R), I close...
You can try to move to BE and take partials. That way, your need for locking in profits is satisfied and then leave the rest running. After a while I think you should be able to leave the whole position on.
Bullish on Heaven and Ruble
  • #56
  • Jun 21, 2025 1:05am Jun 21, 2025 1:05am
Quoting TooSlow
Too early? You cannot know that. Hindsight bias.
But his wife keeps reminding him...
It takes a lot for me to IGNORE you, but you can try.
  • #57
  • Jun 21, 2025 2:32am Jun 21, 2025 2:32am
Quoting PeligroRaton
I have this problem with my TP. Stop losses, I can live with them just fine now. I used to have this problem which I think most people have had, where you set a stop loss and if the price gets close to it you move it above/below the next support/resistance/trendline hoping the trade will work out. But of course mostly it doesn't so you move it again.... or take a bigger loss, or find you can't sleep at night.... Somehow I have taught myself not do that. And reading around that seems to be one of the hardest problems to fix. The problem I have is...
Your question is how you can stop closing trades early.

The question should be How to Maximize profit for your trades.

One way is to follow an Exit Strategy to maximize profit for your trades.
When you have an Exit Strategy that allow "Let Profit Run", then your Trade Management is what you need to work on and develop in your Blueprint For Trading Success.


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...
Honesty is a very expensive gift. You wont find it in cheap people.WBuffett
  • #58
  • Jun 21, 2025 2:59am Jun 21, 2025 2:59am
Quoting PeligroRaton
I have this problem with my TP. Stop losses, I can live with them just fine now. I used to have this problem which I think most people have had, where you set a stop loss and if the price gets close to it you move it above/below the next support/resistance/trendline hoping the trade will work out. But of course mostly it doesn't so you move it again.... or take a bigger loss, or find you can't sleep at night.... Somehow I have taught myself not do that. And reading around that seems to be one of the hardest problems to fix. The problem I have is...
How to maximize profit is to let your trades run till they hit your TP.

In this back-test below. Trade XAU Daily chart, Risk : Reward 1 to 5. Risking $500 per trade and do trade Position Size.

Test period Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, i.e. Donald Trump first term in office.

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Click to Enlarge Name: XAU Jan 2017 to Jan 2021 DailyEA 21-6-2025 3-42-27 pm.png Size: 9 KB

IF the market volatility repeats the same during his second term Jan 2025 to Jan 2029, we can make good money.

...
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Honesty is a very expensive gift. You wont find it in cheap people.WBuffett
  • #59
  • Jun 24, 2025 9:09am Jun 24, 2025 9:09am
Sit down, work out what works 90% of the time on the winning trades, then just drill it into your head all the time

I suffered from this and still do! My method is to trail a stop on a moving average and swing highs/lows - I have to force myself multiple times a day to stick to the game plan

Today I took 5 trades - average R value across the 5 trades was 3.5R per trade - The old stress levels kicked in right from the off and I had to keep on "talking" myself into following the rules - So I made 17.5R where if I'd talked myself out of the trade I might have walked away with 2.5-5R (in total!)

It's a battle and for me always will be - sometimes I cave into the pressure, then give myself a could kicking when you see you were wrong to sell too early

I've had a 100% win rate today, so I'm calling it a day
  • #60
  • Jun 26, 2025 7:29am Jun 26, 2025 7:29am
I've decided to take on a 10-trade challenge. The goal is simple: allow 10 consecutive trades to reach their full take-profit without interference. I believe this will teach me a valuable lesson in discipline and trust in my system. If I can stick to my rules for 10 trades, then scaling that up to 25, 50, or even 100 trades becomes much more realistic.

To support this, I’m making a conscious effort not to watch the charts once a trade is active. My job is done at the moment of execution—entries, stop loss, and TP are all predefined. Once the trade is placed, the outcome is out of my hands, and monitoring it only invites unnecessary stress.

I've noticed a clear pattern: the moment I start watching the trade in real time, stress creeps in. The experience becomes emotionally charged—fear, greed, and expectation begin to override logic. It makes the process far less enjoyable and pushes me toward premature decisions.

My strategy doesn’t involve moving to breakeven or managing trades dynamically. It’s a short-term M15 entry model designed to catch a 40-pip move on EUR/USD, typically following the London manipulation of the Asia session high or low. Trades are usually over within a few hours—so watching the charts is not only unproductive, it’s counterproductive.

Right now, I'm in a winning short position on EUR/USD, and I’m fully committed to letting it reach my target. No intervention. This is trade #1 of the challenge.
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